


Drunk Confessions

by steveharringtonofficial



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-02-12 08:37:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12955449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steveharringtonofficial/pseuds/steveharringtonofficial
Summary: Billy gets drunk at a party and ends up telling you about his home life and confesses his feelings for you





	1. Chapter 1

“Billy Hargrove.”

The words were out your mouth before you even knew you were saying them. The boy had walked up to you at your locker, obviously looking for something from you, or to hit on you. You hadn’t even wanted to acknowledge him but your own subconscious had gotten the better of you.

“[Y/N] [Y/L/N],” Billy said back, imitating you. His arms were crossed leaning against the lockers to your left, tongue darting out across his lips. A usual action for someone like Billy Hargrove.

Now, you couldn’t deny it, the second you saw Billy, you had gone weak. He was undeniably the most attractive man you had ever laid eyes on. But he was an asshole, and you knew it. Always starting fights in the corridors, coming into school with a bruised-up face, hitting on girls, using girls. He disgusted you, but you couldn’t help but think there was more to him.

You shut your locker door after taking out your books and turned to him. “What do you want?” You didn’t want to play his games, but you couldn’t just walk away either.

Billy raised an eyebrow at you. “Am I not allowed to talk to a pretty girl in the school hallways? I never knew Hawkins was that bad.” He feigned shock. “There’s a party tonight at Macy’s. Are you going?”

You had been planning on going, but now you didn’t want anything to do with it. Particularly not if Billy was going to be acting like this with you. With alcohol in him, you didn’t know how bad he could get. You shut your eyes at the thought.

You looked back up at him. “Yeah, I’m going.” You prayed that he wouldn’t suggest something like you going with him.

“I guess I’ll see you there then.” Billy just winked at you and walked off to join his friends. Well, followers, more like. You weren’t sure how many actually liked Billy and weren’t just with him because they were terrified.

You walked into the house the party was being held at. It was already in full swing, people in every room with drinks in their hands swaying along to the music. You caught Billy’s eye immediately as you walked through the door. He wandered up to you, a can in his hand. You saw him coming towards you and desperately tried to work your way through the crowd, away from him, but he caught up to you.

“[Y/N]! You’re here!” Billy sounded surprised you actually came, despite you telling him earlier. You nodded your head in return to his statements. “You’re looking pretty good!”

You muttered a “thanks” as you searched the house for a drinks table. You didn’t plan on getting drunk, but you wanted a nice buzz. Your eyes landed on it and you began walking in the direction of it, Billy following closely behind. Once you got to the table you grabbed a cup and poured yourself some clearly spiked punch.

“Do you need something?” You hummed. Billy seemed stuck to you and you wanted to know why.

“Hm? No, I just thought I’d keep you company.” Billy grinned at you but his mind seemed totally somewhere else. You decided not to pry and accept his so-called good gesture.

The night went on and you found Billy becoming increasingly more drunk. Drunker than you had seen him at parties before and you were actually becoming worried about him. He followed you about but made no advances. Even when you were talking to other people, he would wait just out of shot for you. By the end of the night, there were hardly any people left but you and Billy were still there. You found that he was swaying, and not on purpose either.

“Billy, do you think you should go home?” You didn’t want to actively say your worried thoughts to him but you did need to do something about it.

His eyes lit up in what seemed like fear. “No.” Clearly, the boy had some issue with going home, though you didn’t know what.

You sighed. “Do you want to leave? I can take you back to mine if you’re so hung up about going home.”

Billy smiled faintly at you and nodded his head gently. You helped him out to your car, getting him in the passenger seat. He buckled himself up and you got into the driver’s side and started driving home.

“You are so kind, you know that?” Billy’s words were ever so slightly slurred, and he said then so quietly that you weren’t sure whether you were supposed to hear them or not. You looked over at him to find him staring at you intently. “I mean it.”

“Thanks.” Billy Hargrove was actually being nice for once and you could hardly believe it.

“Most people would have just made me go back to my shitty home, but you didn’t do that. You care about me, I think.” He said the last part as a question. As if he was asking himself if he really thought that. “Most people don’t care about me,” Billy mumbled and you couldn’t help but feel bad for him. Whatever was going on at home surely couldn’t be good if it scared him so much.

You pulled up to your house and helped Billy out of your car. Your parents would be asleep by now, so you decided to just bring him in through the front door instead of making him try and climb through the window, as hilarious as that would be to watch. There’s no denying that he wouldn’t do it though.

You brought Billy up to your bedroom, where he sat on your bed and almost collapsed right there, but he pulled himself awake. You told him you were going to grab him a glass of water and would be right back.

You came back to find Billy looking around your room, taking in what you had on your walls, things lying on your desk. You gave him the glass and he sipped lightly. “Thank you.” He whispered, not looking you in the eyes anymore.

You sat down next to him. “Are you gonna tell me what’s up or do you want me to leave you alone?” You asked him. You wanted to help him but you couldn’t do that unless he told you what was up.

“I…” Billy trailed off, looking down at the floor.

You put a hand on his shoulder but he seemed to jump at your touch. “You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. But I’m here if you need me.”

You grabbed your pyjamas and got changed out of his eye line. You expected him to at least turn and look, that seemed like a thing he would do, but he just kept staring at the floor, taking sips of water every now and then. When you were done, you walked around to him and aimed to sit next to him but the second you laid eyes on him you noticed tears streaming down his face. He wasn’t crying, not really, but the tears were there. You instinctively knelt down in front of him and asked him what was wrong.

“It’s… I just… I can’t…” Billy could barely get words out before he started genuinely crying.

You took the glass from his hands and placed it on your bedside table. You sat down on the bed next to him and placed a hand on his back, reassuring him, telling him it was going to be okay. It didn’t take long for him to bury his face in your next, crying his eyes out, arms wrapped tightly around you like you were the only thing holding him to the earth.

It took him a while for his crying to stop. You were brushing his hair with your hands, reassuring him the whole time. He pulled away from your embrace and look up at you. “Shit. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, Billy. We all cry. You wanna talk about it?” Your eyes were filled with warmth, a warmth he hadn’t seen in years.

“I don’t know how to.” Billy fiddled with his fingers like he was nervous. How was this the arrogant, smooth asshole you knew?

“Well, what’s actually happening? Why don’t you wanna go home?” You asked him, your voice quiet, hoping for him to trust you.

Billy caved and told you everything, about his dad, about how he’s an abusive asshole. About how he fears for Max and what he’d do to her and that’s why he pushes her away. The whole thing. He even ended up crying again halfway through, to which you just held him again and let him get it out. He had clearly been bottling all this stuff up for too long and it was getting to him. You didn’t really know what to say. You had never been in that situation and were still kinda pissed that he acted like an asshole because of it.

“I’m really sorry, Billy.” You said when he was finished. And you were genuinely sorry, you didn’t want anyone to go through anything like that.

“Don’t. It’s not your fault.” Billy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know how to fix anything [Y/N]. I’m such a shitty person and I don’t know what to do. You’re so good, all I ever see you doing is being kind to people.” His eyes were looking so intently into yours that you couldn’t bear to look away.

“Billy…” You were thinking about what you were going to say to him but your thoughts stopped abruptly when you felt Billy press his lips to yours.

He pulled away just as quick, noticing the shock that washed over your face. He pressed his lips together. “I shouldn’t have done that.” Billy turned from you, his body threatening to get up and leave, you could see him thinking through his thoughts, deciding what was the best thing to do.

You didn’t quite understand why he had kissed you in the first place. You weren’t exactly having the most romantic conversation.

“Why did you..?” You trailed off, not wanting to actually say it. You kept your voice soft so as not to hurt him. He didn’t do anything wrong, it just wasn’t something you were expecting. Billy was clearly blaming himself for something.

He glanced up at you but didn’t meet your eyes. “I guess it just felt right. It felt…” Billy paused and thought for a second. “It felt safe. You feel safe.”

Your heart skipped a beat at his words. Billy licked his lips in panic. “I mean, not like, I know you would sleep with me – safe. But I could be with you, I could see myself actually being with you and living with you and being happy. That kind of safe.” Billy was shaking and you still couldn’t tell if maybe it was just the alcohol talking or not but he seemed sincere. And from your experience, drunk people often blurt out the truth more than they lie.

Still, it didn’t stop you from being sceptical. Billy Hargrove essentially just confessed his feelings for you and you didn’t know what to think. This morning, you thought he was just another good-looking asshole but now he was more than that. He was a person with feelings, just like anyone else, who just had some dubious coping mechanisms.

You sighed, causing Billy to look at you, eyes filled with worry. “I can just go if you want me to.” He said, filled with complete and utter sadness.

Billy went to stand but you grabbed his arm, causing him to sit back on the bed again and turn to you. “You don’t need to do that.” Your voice was quiet now. “I like you, Billy, it’s just. You need to change your act a little.” Your hand was still on his arm, you rubbed it gently with your thumb. “You can’t be such an asshole when you know yourself how badly it hurts.”

Billy’s face fell, but his eyes were hopeful. “I know. I know, and I’ll try. I’ll try to be better, I promise. Not just for you but for me, and for all the people I’ve been a jerk to.”

You smiled at him, causing him to smile back. You realise that you think it’s the first time you’ve seen him genuinely smile, and not put on a show. You knew he meant what he said and you kissed him gently on the cheek.

“I think you should sleep though.” You noticed how he was struggling to keep his eyes open.

Billy laughed gently. “I think so, too.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy wakes up in your house, unsure of what he said or did the night before. You fill him in, all the while making pancakes, smooching in parking lots, and just generally being great

You woke up to light streaming through your window and Billy snoring lightly beside you. You looked over at him, his blond curls misplaced all over his face. His features were much more relaxed in this state, and he looked peaceful, a look you had never seen on him before.

You left Billy where he was and headed downstairs. You had remembered your parents saying something about going out today but you didn’t know if they would have left yet. You walked into the kitchen, where your mom had left a little note saying they likely wouldn’t be back until late at night. You sighed a breath of relief, you didn’t want to have to throw Billy out via your window, the poor boy would probably break a leg or something.

You went back up to check on Billy now that you knew the coast was clear. He had rolled over to the other side of the bed, his face now clear of his hair. He fluttered his eyes open when he heard you walk into the room.

“I didn’t think I’d be waking up in your bed.” Billy laughed and sat himself up, the duvet falling from his body to show his shirtless chest.

You raised an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean by that?”

“Hm? You kick a lot in your sleep, I thought for sure I’d end up on the floor.” You shook your head and rolled your eyes at him.

“I’m not used to sharing.” You shrugged. “Do you want anything? My parents aren’t in so we’re free to do whatever.”

Billy bit his bottom lip. “Can you… tell me what I said last night? I don’t normally get that drunk, must have been something in the punch.”

You nodded and sat down next to him on the bed. He stared at you intently, awaiting your answer. “You don’t remember any of it?”

Billy hummed. “I remember kissing you, and saying something but I just want you to clarify.”

You pressed your lips together and thought back to what had happened. “You told me about your dad and stuff, and then you told me you liked me and that you felt safe with me.” Billy nodded his head as if what you were saying was helping him remember. “You kissed me, and then I also said that you needed to change up your act a little. And I think that was it.”

Billy looked up at you, his eyes flicking between all aspects of your face, unsure where to settle. “Well, I don’t regret any of that. And you’re right, I do need to change.”

You stood up from where you were sat. “Now, do you want anything? You’re gonna want to eat something after last night.”

Billy hopped out of the bed and stood up next to you. He looked down at you and smiled. “What’s on offer?”

You giggled and swatted him gently on the chest. “ _Not me._  I was gonna make pancakes.”

He hummed, tilting his head to the side in thought. “I guess that’ll do.”

Billy followed you downstairs to the kitchen where you offered him a glass of orange juice. He practically chugged the whole thing the second you gave it to him, parched after only drinking alcohol the night before. You shook your head and left him with the carton instead of putting it back into the refrigerator.

You got out all of the ingredients for the pancakes, Billy laughing slightly when he saw you had to climb up onto the countertops to reach the highest shelves, pointing out you could have simply asked him. He liked watching you move about the room, effortless, calm. Billy didn’t have a place he could act so relaxed in. Well, until now.

“What kind do you want?” You asked him, voice soft. “You can have-“ you started but Billy cut you off.

“Chocolate chip.” He grabbed the bag of chocolate chips from the counter and ripped them open, stuffing a few of them into his mouth before grinning widely at you.

You rolled your eyes and him and took the bag away. “Chocolate chip it is then.”

Billy sat down at the breakfast bar and let you make the pancakes. He confessed that he was absolutely terrible at cooking and that he would probably fuck it all up if he even tried to help. You were so busy concentrating on not burning them in the pan that you almost didn’t hear Billy talk.

“You really are the nicest person ever, you know?” Billy said, voice slow as if he was trying to comprehend it himself. “Most people probably would have just thrown me out. Hell, we barely talked all that much before this and now you’re making me breakfast.”

You laughed, turning round to look at him for just a second. “What did you think I would do? Throw you out on the streets in the middle of the night while you were in tears. Any normal person would know that’s wrong.”

“Jesus, I did cry, didn’t I?” Billy breathed the words out, embarrassed that he’d let his guard down, that he’d changed his tone so much just because you’d shown him a little kindness.

You finished up the last of the pancakes and brought them over to him, pulling up a chair on the opposite side of the bar. “Yep, you did cry. I won’t tell anyone.” You grinned at him and he couldn’t help but grin back.

Billy began looking at you in such a way that made something well up in the bottom of your heart. Before, it would just be his regular charming looks that he would give everyone, but since last night his eyes were filled with that of adoration. It took Billy a while to realise how much he liked you; how he liked seeing you smile in the corridor when talking to your friends, how he loved to hear the sound of your laugh whenever someone said something slightly funny. He just loved everything about you, and he was ashamed that it all had to come out when he was drunk.

Billy had decided it was time to go home after you had made him pancakes, and while you wanted him to stay, if not just to keep him from his dad but just to spend more time with him, you let him leave. He’d promised he would talk to you at school on Monday, and that you should chase him up if he forgot, which he swore he would but it was just a precaution. He left you with a swift kiss on the cheek which you wished had turned into something more, and began walking in the direction of Macy’s to go find his car.

* * *

Billy did, in fact, talk to you on Monday. He was waiting in his usual spot by his car, smoking a cigarette, and you were about to walk right past him when he shouted your name. The only reason you were doing so was to make sure he would call on you, but when he did so, your heart jumped and you couldn’t help but grin at him.

You walked closer to him and were greeted by his familiar smell of musk and smoke. “Hey, princess.” Billy smiled at you and moved his arm out so he could bring you into his side, squeezing you gently before letting you go again.

“Princess?” You asked him, raising an eyebrow.

“What? Don’t you like it? I can go with something else – sweetheart, baby, darling – name it and you got it.” Billy took one last puff of his cigarette before stomping it out on the ground.

You pressed your lips together. “No, I like it. I wouldn’t mind the other ones either though, mind you.”

Billy nodded, noting what you said and pulled you forward into his chest, resting his hands on your waist. He leaned down and kissed you gently, and you could hear the whispers starting around the parking lot. You pulled back, blushing slightly, and refused to look back up at Billy’s face.

“Are you alright?” He asked you, keeping his voice low so that only you could hear it.

You breathed a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, I guess I just didn’t realise how much attention we’d get.”

Billy brought his hands up so that they were grasping your arms. He rubbed them gently, helping to reassure you. “We can tone it down around school if you like, or we can go all out and make everyone throw up at our budding romance.”

You giggled and hit his chest playfully. “Let’s just keep it at a normal level, okay?”

“But what is a normal level? What if I think a normal level is showering you with kisses every time I see you?” Billy beamed down, and you could feel his laugh through his chest.

“You’re Billy Hargrove, I’m surprised you even do PDA at all.”

Billy gasped at you, making you laugh once more. “Sweetheart, if you want PDA, you’ll get it. If you don’t, then you don’t. It’s all up to you.” You both heard the bell go and Billy dropped a kiss onto your forehead before freeing you from his grip.

“Walk me to English?” You asked him, to which he nodded enthusiastically and even held your hand the entire way there.

* * *

It wasn’t long before the two of you were the talk of the school. You had people come up to you in the corridors, asking you about Billy. Some people were nice about it, some people were horrible. You had girls harassing you, telling you that Billy was theirs and there was no doubt about it. They were delusional, so in love with a boy that had done so much as to walk in the presence.

But Billy kept you on track, and you noticed him changing, too. Of course, he still held his crown, but when people taunted him in the hallways, looking for a fight, he told himself to back down, to not throw the first punch. And when someone else did throw the first punch he tried to walk away. Billy did lose it one time, but that was only because the boy was harassing you and he just could not stand it.

But you understood, change takes time, it doesn’t happen overnight. You told Billy that every single time he would have a doubt, he would come to you in the middle of the night, knuckles gently tapping the window, having little breakdowns because he thought he wasn’t good enough for you or that he was still a shitty person and he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he ever hurt you. But each time he came to you, and cried to you, and spilt his problems, you were always there to help him back up.

And he did the same with you. You had your doubts and worries, with Billy being a complete player and all, but he always reassured you that you were the only one he had eyes for. Whenever girls came up to him in the hallways or tried to drunkenly kiss him at parties, he would push them away, politely say “I have a girlfriend” and then continue to show you off to the world like the princess he thought you were, and the queen that you became to be.

You were a little concerned when you brought Billy home after that party, but you will always be thankful for his little drunk confession.


End file.
